Not logged inChampdogs Information Exchange
A friend contacted me yesterday regarding her nearly 6 month old x breed puppy. The puppy has a small hard piece of what to be honest looks like bone in her gum between her new top canine and back teeth. This is wobbly but still connected to the gum. I have never seen anything like it and wondered if anyone out there has and if so what it could be. The puppy is eating really well and it doesnt seem to be bothering her at all - any suggestions???
By Nova
Date 22.08.11 07:59 UTC

At a guess it is a broken milk (puppy) tooth that has not come out yet although the adult tooth has grown, if it were my pup I would try to wiggle it out and if that failed I would see the vet and have it removed, retained teeth or part of a tooth can cause problems with the new adult teeth.
What Nova has said sounds probable. What they could do is to give her plenty of bones to encourage her to chew - this should help to shift it :)
It is very wobbly now and I did say if it isnt out in a couple of days to take her to the vet its just in over 40 years of owning dogs ive never seen anything like it
If it looks like bone, and in 40 years of owning dogs you have never seen anything like it, it might actually be bone. There is a kind of rare benign tumour called choristoma, it's just normal tissue (like bone or hair), that grows in an abnormal location (eyes, gums, tongue). This dog should be taken to a vet to check this.

There is a similar post on another site with a JRT.Came out with a bit of assistance and probabaly a small fragment of chicken bone.
By CVL
Date 23.08.11 16:41 UTC

My 14 month old Lab has something similar I think. My Labs are always getting eachother's hairs in between their canines and gums, but one has something very small, flat and bone-like. It's been there a couple of weeks and I've been brushing his teeth regularly to help dislodge it and keep it from going nasty with food stuck in it. What kind of 'assistance' was needed?
The mystery is over - My friend took the puppy to the vets and he pulled it out and said its the inside of her canine tooth that didnt come away when the tooth came out. Still never heard of it but they do say you learn something new everyday :-)
By Nova
Date 26.08.11 07:59 UTC

Glad it is sorted, it is more common than thought perhaps because people do not look into their pets mouths very much but when I was helping run a dog club I was asked about it several times and it was usually a retained tooth, a root or a piece of broken tooth.
Powered by mwForum 2.29.6 © 1999-2015 Markus Wichitill